Community celebrates Juneteenth

“Don’t give up on your dream,” represented the message Reverend (Dr.) Alice Baber-Banks emphasized as she spoke at this year’s Juneteenth celebration in Carl Miller Park on Saturday.

Photo by Brian S. Orban

An event marking the official end to slavery in the United States took the stage last week as people gathered to celebrate this year’s Juneteenth observance.

Juneteenth marks the day when Union Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865 to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln more than two years earlier.

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